A Reflection on Music
Today I noticed I was reflecting quite a bit on my thoughts and experiences with playing music. Music has been a huge part of my life since I was a little kid. It started with listening all the time to oldies with my parents and became my own "pioneering" into a great big world. I actually remember listening to hip hop on my Playskool radio/tape player/microphone device in the bed of my dad's work truck while driving through downtown Avalon. I must have been about five. About 6 or 7 years later I would pick up the guitar and start to learn to play.
Over the years I have kept a pretty wide range of musical tastes and I truly enjoy jamming with other musicians. In fact, "enjoy" could be an understatement. It is one of things that I love to do most. It was in pursuit of doing this in my new hometown of Redding, CA that I found myself in an email exchange with another musician over the arrangement of a jam session. It turns out our goals aren't really compatible and we're not going to play together anytime soon. Here are some of the things I realized I believe about music through our communication.
1. Freeform jamming is my favorite. I've played in jams without an agenda and it made my heart pound and my hair raise up. It's about the chemistry and seeing where the music goes. Those were my most enjoyed times in music - ever. I can vividly remember times jamming in my bedroom at my bachelor pad with amps crowded around a full drum kit and players sweating in the heat of the crowded space. These were some great musicians by the way, just not a very glorious venue. A couple friends were hanging around and loving what they were hearing. Another was a latin-themed jam at an art gallery that I jumped in on the timbales and cowbell. All I did was play cowbell and simple percussion but my excitement was as close to a chemical high as I've ever been or may ever be. I was getting to jam with some talented and respected musicians.
2. The gigs over the years have been good/ok and enjoyable in their own right but they were always a letdown because nobody is perfect and that's what all of our practicing had hoped to produce. Afterwords we would always go "my guitar was too quiet" or "Jimbo was off time" or "the intro didn't come out like we practiced". I kinda think the Grateful Dead experienced a far less amount of disappointment than the average performing group.
3. Here is a list of some of the artists, in no particular order, that inspire me to play: Buena Vista Social Club, Cachao, older Santana, SRV & Hendrix, Toots & the Maytals, Thrice, Johnny Cash, Killswitch Engage, Al Green, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Jimmy Eat World, Sly & the Family Stone, Death Cab for Cutie, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Wilco, Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin.
So, by the way, if you are in Northern California and you want to jam, drop me a line!
Over the years I have kept a pretty wide range of musical tastes and I truly enjoy jamming with other musicians. In fact, "enjoy" could be an understatement. It is one of things that I love to do most. It was in pursuit of doing this in my new hometown of Redding, CA that I found myself in an email exchange with another musician over the arrangement of a jam session. It turns out our goals aren't really compatible and we're not going to play together anytime soon. Here are some of the things I realized I believe about music through our communication.
1. Freeform jamming is my favorite. I've played in jams without an agenda and it made my heart pound and my hair raise up. It's about the chemistry and seeing where the music goes. Those were my most enjoyed times in music - ever. I can vividly remember times jamming in my bedroom at my bachelor pad with amps crowded around a full drum kit and players sweating in the heat of the crowded space. These were some great musicians by the way, just not a very glorious venue. A couple friends were hanging around and loving what they were hearing. Another was a latin-themed jam at an art gallery that I jumped in on the timbales and cowbell. All I did was play cowbell and simple percussion but my excitement was as close to a chemical high as I've ever been or may ever be. I was getting to jam with some talented and respected musicians.
2. The gigs over the years have been good/ok and enjoyable in their own right but they were always a letdown because nobody is perfect and that's what all of our practicing had hoped to produce. Afterwords we would always go "my guitar was too quiet" or "Jimbo was off time" or "the intro didn't come out like we practiced". I kinda think the Grateful Dead experienced a far less amount of disappointment than the average performing group.
3. Here is a list of some of the artists, in no particular order, that inspire me to play: Buena Vista Social Club, Cachao, older Santana, SRV & Hendrix, Toots & the Maytals, Thrice, Johnny Cash, Killswitch Engage, Al Green, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Jimmy Eat World, Sly & the Family Stone, Death Cab for Cutie, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Wilco, Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin.
So, by the way, if you are in Northern California and you want to jam, drop me a line!
posted by helikyler at
2:31 PM
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